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Swarm Beats Rush in Second Longest Game in NLL History

from press releases

SAINT PAUL, Minn. – In the second longest
game in league history (72 minutes, 23 seconds), the National
Lacrosse League's Minnesota Swarm (2-2) defeated the Edmonton Rush
(1-3) 10-9 in overtime Friday night on Treasure Island Field in
front of 7,012 fans at Xcel Energy Center during the first game of
its doubleheader weekend.

Forward Ryan Benesch (3g) sank the game winning goal 12:37 into
the longest overtime in Swarm history to give Minnesota its second
straight win at home. The longest game ever recorded lasted 76
minutes and six seconds when the Boston Blazers took on the Orlando
Titans on Feb. 20, 2010.

Benesch's hat trick led the Swarm and this was his fourth
straight game with at least three goals. Forward Callum Crawford
(1g, 5a) led Minnesota with six points (1g, 5a).

Rookie goalie Tyler Carlson (2-1) picked up his second career
win after making 32 saves on 41 shots in nearly 73 minutes of
play.

Forward Jamie Shewchuck (1g, 1a) tallied his only goal of the
game to give the Swarm an 8-7 edge one minute and five seconds into
the fourth quarter. With only 1:10 remaining, T Andrew Suitor (1g)
notched his fifth goal of the season tying it up at 9-9 and sending
Minnesota into its first overtime game of the season. Minnesota is
now 9-7 all-time in overtime play.

During the third quarter, Benesch tallied his second goal of the
night with 5:41 remaining to tie the game up at 6-6. Rookie T
Jordan MacIntosh (1g) netted his sixth career goal to give
Minnesota its first lead of the game. The Swarm held a 7-6
advantage at the end of the third.

After getting off to a slow start offensively in the second
quarter, D Joe Cinosky (1g) broke away with the ball and notched
his first NLL career goal. With 3:24 remaining, he brought the
Rush's lead down to 5-3. Benesch further chipped away at Edmonton's
lead by adding his eleventh goal of the season. With three seconds
remaining in the quarter, Crawford posted his only goal of the game
to tie up the game up at 5-5 going into halftime.

In the first quarter, rookie F Corbyn Tao (1g, 1a) started off
the scoring for the Swarm by tallying his seventh career goal and
tying the game up at 1-1. F Kevin Ross (1g, 1a) netted Minnesota's
final goal of the quarter on the power play after sneaking one in
the corner of the net. The Swarm trailed the Rush 3-2 at the end of
the first quarter.

Former Minnesota Swarm F Ryan Ward (2g, 1a) led Edmonton with
three points.

Minnesota held Edmonton to a single digit in scoring for the
second game in a row and Rush goaltender Aaron Bold showed why he's
tops in the NLL statistically with another remarkable performance
in the contest.

"He's been solid for us all year and when you get goaltending
like that you have to win the games," Rush head coach/GM Derek
Keenan said of Bold. "We wasted an outstanding goaltending
performance and a pretty-good defensive performance because our
offense has just gone stagnant.

"It's all about performance and on offense we have players that
just aren't performing. Nine goals in almost five quarters of
lacrosse is not good enough and I'm tired of it. With the guys we
have there is no reason we shouldn't be scoring more."

"This was a big game on the road trip and the guys new it and
for some reason we were sloppy from the get-go," he added.

Tonight's game can be viewed on KSTC-TV Channel 45 during a
rebroadcast on Sunday, Feb. 12 at 4 p.m.

After tonight's victory, Minnesota's now leads the all-time
record (4-3) against Edmonton. The Swarm's last win against the
Rush came at home on Jan. 22, 2011 when it defeated Edmonton
9-8.